Defending Sophie Read online

  Typing in Reed Killian's name into the internet search bar, he figured he'd start there and move into the military records. He liked starting with public searches first because you just never knew what you'd find. The search was fruitless. No big news, no pictures to speak of and no social media, which wasn't unusual for high ranking military personnel. It was unusual for Killian though ‘cause that man loved blowing his own horn. He found every opportunity to talk and brag about himself to anyone who had the stomach to listen.

  The next search moved to court records to see if he'd gotten himself into any predicaments outside of the military. When three searches popped up, Gaige sat up a bit straighter, now we were getting somewhere. It didn't take long for disappointment to set in. Two of those hits were divorces and one was a minor domestic dispute in which his ex-wife wanted him out of the house and he refused to leave. A fight ensued and she called police and then filed a restraining order against him. That would be something he'd look into further, since it may lead him somewhere.

  His phone chirped that the battery was running low and he set his laptop on the sofa next to him and stood. Stretching he noted from his computer that he'd been on for well over two hours. Sometimes these searches could go on and on.

  He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and popped the cap, took a long drink and recapped the bottle, setting it on the coffee table, he turned to head out to the vehicle to grab his phone cord. Making as little noise as possible, he noted a few things about being in California. The evening was still warm even though it was now around ten pm. He fought the urge to step outside of the garage ‘cause he didn't want to attract any attention. He also didn't know if he could drag himself back in. Back home in Indiana, it was much cooler right now and not nearly barefoot weather. Thinking again that maybe he'd made a mistake in making Indiana the home for GHOST due to weather, he then reminded himself that the Midwest was the central hub to everything, which was the reason Indiana had been his final choice. There was never a one size fits all scenario.

  Entering the house, he closed the door behind him and grimaced when it squeaked. Damned old houses. Nestling back into his little spot on the sofa, he picked up his laptop and pulled up his access panel for GHOST to enter into the military records the GHOST military contact, Casper, had given to him.

  Sophie's bedroom door opened and he saw her from his peripheral vision slowly coming toward him with the piece of 2 x 4 he'd wedged in her window. At first he thought she was joking, then he turned and saw the frightened look on her face and his heart went out to her. The fears of the past few weeks had weighed so heavy on her. He could see it in her face. The fine lines around her eyes had deepened since he'd last seen her, but also the fine lines around her mouth had settled in. Though neither of those things had done anything to change how beautiful she was, she'd always been gorgeous to him, always would be. The first time he'd seen her she was sixteen and going out on a date. She'd come down the stairs at her family home and he and Tate were in the living room watching some football game on TV. They’d just graduated Basic Training, so he came home with Tate. He turned his head when Tate whistled and she told him to shut up.

  His mouth went dry and his heart beat so fast he thought he'd pass out. She wore an electric blue short fitted dress and matching shoes. Her long dark hair hung in waves down her back and over her left shoulder and her brown eyes sparkled. He remembered with clarity the way she'd looked at him when she turned to see him sitting on the chair at a right angle to Tate. He saw her swallow and her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her dress.

  "Sophie, this is my friend Gaige Vickers. Gaige, my little sister, Sophie."

  He froze for a solid moment, then remembered his manners and decided to shake her hand to see what her skin felt like. He stood and walked the five or so steps over to her and held his shaking hand out and he saw her bottom lip quiver just before she sucked it in between her teeth. Fuck, that was sexy.

  Her small hand grasped his and he remembered the feeling to this day. Soft and warm and her fingers tightened around his hand like she needed him to pull her to safety.

  Finding his voice, he softly replied, "Nice to meet you, Sophie."

  Her eyes, so beguiling without any pretense, looked into his and the dark brown of her irises to this day is still his favorite color. Her thick black lashes were the perfect frame for her almond shaped eyes and he wanted to drown in them. Then, Georgianna, their mom, came into the room.

  "Oh, I'm glad you were able to meet. Gaige and Tate met during Basic Training. They're stationed together at Fort Benning."

  "Oh. That's great that Tate will have a friend with him." She swallowed. "Nice to meet you."

  Tate walked forward then and hugged Sophie. "You call if any asshole decides to get too frisky with you. Gaige and I will wrap that shit up in two seconds."

  Georgianna scoffed. “Tate. Language.”

  Sophie pushed on Tate's chest and chuckled. "I can take care of myself. No one touches me unless I say so."

  What he would have given for her to say so right then.

  Looking at her now, his heart ached for the time spent apart.

  "Hey, what are you doing up? Are you in pain?"

  She shook her head, "I heard a door close."

  He patted the sofa next to him, "Come sit. Unless you're planning on bludgeoning me to death."

  She sat next to him and his senses were assaulted on all levels. She smelled fantastic. He could feel her warmth the instant she sat down, even though they weren't touching. She wasn't wearing anything to cover her legs, which were amazing. Her voice still held that soft but strong quality he had played over and over in his mind and then she hit him with the final blow.

  "Why are you researching Captain Killian?"

  Chapter 11

  Just seeing Killian's picture on the computer screen almost made her vomit. Her stomach twisted and turned and she wrapped her good arm around both her right arm which hurt to move much and her stomach to quell the roiling.

  "Do you know him?"

  Gaige's jaw tightened and she studied his profile. The almost imperceptible grimace that pursed his lips and wrinkled his nose hardened into a stony expression she'd never seen on him.

  "Yeah, I know him. He and I were in AIT together."

  "You went in to be a medic like Tate, right?"

  "Yeah. After one deployment to Bosnia, my dad wanted me to come home and help him with GHOST. It was up and running and he wanted me to know the ins and outs of it."

  "What did Killian go to AIT for?"

  "I think he was a respiratory specialist."

  She swallowed not sure what she should divulge.

  "How do you know him?"

  His green eyes locked on hers and she wanted so badly to tell him everything. But, she'd trusted too easily before and it nearly got her killed. She just had to be careful.

  "I think he's the one who has framed Kate's death as suicide and is after me because he thinks I have proof that he has."

  Gaige set his laptop on the coffee table as he pulled his feet off, then twisted on the sofa so he was facing her. His left leg folded on the sofa in front of him while is right leg rested on the floor. "Tell me."

  "He had an obsession with Kate. Made passes at her, which she ignored. She noticed that he'd show up where she was. The store, the movie theater once when she was on a date. Then on base, he'd show up at her office, where he had no business being. Bogus excuses to be there and she was getting creeped out by him. After she was raped, he stopped coming around, but I noticed that his initials were on all documents surrounding Kate's disciplinary Article 15s. I don't have great evidence, I thought I'd have time to find it, but then Chet must have said something to him and my time ran out."

  He never looked away and she felt better. Then, his left hand rested on the back of the sofa, and his fingers reached over and caressed her shoulder. It was light, almost imperceptible, but she felt it. Her heartbeat increased as she stared at
him. Softly he asked, "Why don't you think he came around after Kate was raped?"

  "My feeling is that she was tainted goods."

  The frown that marred his handsome face was gone just as fast as it appeared. If she hadn't been watching him for expressions, she wouldn't have noticed it at all.

  "Who raped Kate?"

  Pinching her lips together she didn't want to risk lying. Not completely anyway, so she slowly shook her head. It was a lie, but not a verbal lie. She'd deal with that bit of news later. It was too much to lay out right now.

  "Okay, can you tell me any concrete reason why you think Killian is the one after you?"

  Biting the inside of her cheek, she took a breath, "One of my attackers at my apartment said to the other one, "The Captain will be..." Then the other one told him to shut up. Killian is the only Captain with any interest in Kate, or me or the truth about all of this. It has to be him."

  Gaige's chest expanded and then fell as he took a deep breath and let it out. "We have to be very careful. Hawk and I saw Killian at the commissary yesterday when I met Rocco to get the keys for this cabin. The look he gave me when I climbed into my vehicle was creepy. It's been bugging me since. Now I think I know why. He knows of course that Tate and I were friends. And, he knows you are Tate's sister. Now, I'm in town and you're missing and he'll easily put two and two together. He isn't stupid. He'll assume I'm here to help you. I have to make sure he doesn't have access to the SEALS."

  Picking up his phone, she watched his long sexy fingers deftly swipe and tap on his phone until he found the number he wanted. Putting the phone to his right ear, he kept eye contact with her, but his fantastic smile was gone and worry now played on his face and her stomach once again twisted. If her protector, friend, companion was worried, how could she not be?

  "Rocco, do you know Captain Reed Killian?"

  She couldn't hear what this man, Rocco, was saying, but she saw Gaige sit straighter, as if on alert. "Really. When was this?" Only getting one side of the conversation probably made it worse, because the following questions bothered her more than she imagined they would.

  "What did you tell him?"

  "Thanks man, can we keep it that way?"

  He hung up, then cleared his throat. "How do you want this to work, Sophie? Do you always want info straight up or not?"

  "Yes." She swallowed. "No matter how bad, I'd rather know what I'm up against."

  He nodded, leaned over to set his phone on the coffee table, then looked at her. "Killian sought Rocco out and asked him how we knew each other and why I was in town."

  Sucking in air, enough to fill her lungs, she commanded her body to exhale slowly. "Okay. What did Rocco say?"

  "He told Killian to fuck himself." Gaige took a deep breath.

  "So, here's what we have to do. We have to head back to GHOST headquarters in the morning and research from there. The needed resources are there. He can't reach you there. And we’ll have time to figure things out without looking over our shoulders all the time and we'll be secure in the compound. Once we’re armed with the information we require, we can come back and do what we need to do. I don't know what Killian has records to, but if he starts investigating the SEALS, it won't be long before he puts together that one of Rocco's buddies’ owns a house just outside of Riverton. We don't need him finding us."

  "So, there's no chance that I will be able to go back to my apartment and grab clothes and supplies?"

  "I don't see that as an option at all, Soph. But the women back at the compound will have clothes for you and can shop with you to get you stocked up."

  For some reason that just hit her like a punch in the gut. The women at the compound. He had women there. Did that mean he had a woman? A special someone? A wife?

  "I didn't even ask if you have..." He dropped his left hand from the back of the sofa to his lap and she picked his hand up in hers. "Are you married?" Assessing his ring finger, no indentation was visible and he didn't have a tan line, but not all men wore wedding rings.

  "No."

  "Never?"

  "No."

  "I thought I heard you were engaged."

  "You did, I was. But, I couldn't bring myself to go through with it and called it off a couple months before the wedding."

  Relief raced around her body and she almost felt light headed from it. "I'm divorced. Brad was someone my parents approved of, and I wanted to make them happy, but after Tate..." Swallowing the tears that threatened, she gave herself a moment and cleared her throat. "After Tate died I kept hearing myself say, "Life is too short to be unhappy." So, I filed for divorce. I've never been sorry."

  He chuckled. "Me either."

  The air changed. It almost crackled with electricity. Her chest felt heavy with the need to touch him. She wondered what it had been about her all those years ago that he wasn't interested in her. She wanted to ask, but hated to sound so needy, after all the man flew over a thousand miles to help her, so she hated to keep compounding all of the emotions. Standing she softly said, "I'll see if I can get some sleep now, since it seems we'll be leaving right away in the morning. I don't have a plane ticket though and I'm worried about going through the airport, which I'm sure Killian will be watching."

  "Ah, well, I have a private plane now and I have it in a private hangar with a small airline company close to the airport but not on airport grounds. The plane is not listed as a GHOST plane, it's listed as a plane for a company I formed to own it, so by the time, if at all, Killian puts that all together, we'll be long gone."

  "Oh, I'm impressed, Gaige, I had no idea your company had grown so much."

  His gorgeous smile appeared again and the thought that she could look at it for hours flooded her brain. "Take your 2 x 4, Soph, and wedge it back into your window. I'll see you in the morning."

  Walking back to her bedroom, she had to fight the urge to look back at him and see if he was watching her. She hoped he was. But she wasn't ready to find out if he wasn't, so she kept her head facing forward. Stepping into her bedroom, she closed the door quietly, wedged her board in the window, and slid in between the sheets. Still not ready to sleep in the dark, she kept the lights on. The last thought she had before falling asleep was how many women were at the compound and who were they to Gaige?

  Chapter 12

  "So, I won't be gone long, and as soon as I get back, we'll head to the airport. Are you sure you'll be okay here without a vehicle?"

  He watched Hawk practically inhale a hardboiled egg, taking half of it in one bite, chewing briefly, and taking the other half before responding. Apparently he was hungry this morning.

  "We'll be fine. I'll let her sleep and I'll keep lookout. When she wakes, I'll tell her you'll be back in a bit. And, we'll have the groceries packed up and be ready to roll."

  "Okay. I have a comm unit here." He pointed to a unit he'd set on the table. "If you need it for any reason, don't hesitate to grab it."

  Hawk sat back in the kitchen chair, which looked like it was far too small for a man his size. "I've done this before you know."

  "Yeah. It's just personal this time"

  He only nodded in response. Picked up another egg and began peeling it. "She the one who got away?"

  Not sure how to respond to that question he stared at Hawk's giant fingers trying to peel his egg without ripping it apart. He chuckled then. "Your silence says everything."

  Their eyes met and Hawk's lips tilted up into a crooked smile. "Sad sack."

  Shaking his head, he walked to the garage door. "Shut the fuck up. I'll be back within an hour."

  Leaving the driveway, he kept his eyes alert to see anything that might seem out of place. It was doubtful that Killian would already know where they were staying, but he was a sneaky bastard and there was no telling how many men he had at his disposal.

  But the other side of his life was his family, which was incredibly important to him, and he couldn't come all this way and not visit his maternal uncle and aunt. Besides, Uncle
Jeff was a full bird Colonel, and while he'd never asked for a favor, he just may need to if things went wrong here. So, it was necessary to stop in, say hi, and ask for the stand-by just in case.

  Taking the highway around Riverton, he turned off and maneuvered the coastal road until the sign for Windsor Heights appeared. The first time he'd visited this house he was highly impressed. Elite neighborhood with fantastic views of the ocean. The homes were all strategically nestled among the rocky terrain as if they'd grown from the mountains on their own. But, the first time his aunt and uncle had come to visit him at the GHOST compound, he'd felt like he made it given the praise by Uncle Jeff. He'd felt their relationship change during that visit. He was no longer "Little Gaige" Robert and Elaine's son; he was Gaige Vickers, Commander of an elite civilian special forces team of highly specialized men and women, and his Uncle Jeff, especially, beamed at him. Too bad his mother didn't feel the same way about GHOST. She hated it and refused to acknowledge anything about GHOST. She viewed it as the reason her husband, and Gaige's father, was dead. She wasn't totally wrong about that; he'd been working himself to the bone and had a heart attack at his desk at the original GHOST headquarters a few hundred miles from the current location. But, he spent all that time at his desk because he loved it. He fucking loved GHOST and what he'd built and what it meant. He was cleaning the scum from the earth by doing things that no ordinary person could do. The government and the police's hands were tied, GHOST was autonomous with all the cool access and equipment. It was perfect. Still is.

  The entry gates to the back section of the neighborhood were open and Gaige maneuvered the SUV along the curvy, narrow street and up the drive of the Taylor home. It still looked the same. Even the foliage looked as if time had left this place alone.